


A Sacrifice Far Greater

by lionessvalenti



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Arranged Marriage, M/M, Not Thor: Ragnarok (2017) Mid-Credits Scene Compliant, Ritual Public Sex, Soul Bond, Very Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-02 08:51:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18807820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionessvalenti/pseuds/lionessvalenti
Summary: In order for the Asgardian refugees to stay in Wakanda, Bucky must marry Loki to keep an eye on him. What he's giving up is nothing compared to what he gains.





	A Sacrifice Far Greater

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aurilly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurilly/gifts).



Bucky walked down a dim corridor lined with holding cells. There was only one with the lights on, and that was his destination. He stood in front of the glass wall, with a row of holes at face-level, and peered inside.

He had been in all manners of prison in his lifetime, but this holding cell was like nothing anything he'd ever seen. It was large, and a had a real bed with sheets and blankets, and while it was narrow, it looked comfortable. There was a section partitioned off with frosted glass that he assumed was a bathroom. 

A man sat in the corner with a tablet in his hand. Bucky recognized him immediately as Loki, but he still looked quite different from the photographs Bucky had seen. His hair was longer and he seemed relaxed. In all the photos from 2012, Loki looked a lot more stressed and pale.

Without looking up, he said, "Go away, Thor, I'm busy."

"Not Thor," Bucky said.

Loki looked up, startled. He set the tablet aside and got to his feet. He stared at Bucky for nearly a full minute before he said anything. "Who are you?" he asked finally, slowly approaching the barrier.

"My name is Bucky Barnes. And you're Loki." Bucky hadn't minded the silence. It was nice to have a moment to gather his bearings. He'd known Loki was an attractive man from the photos, but seeing him in person was completely different.

It was far too early to tell if finding Loki hot was a perk or a disadvantage.

"What do you want?" Loki asked.

"Well, that's a complicated question. I don't know what Thor has told you--"

"Only that I'm the subject of much debate and he promises to have me removed from this cell as soon as possible," Loki said. "I'm going to assume you have something to do with this."

Bucky nodded. "Heimdall proposed something called the eternal bond, and both Thor and T'Challa signed off on it. I don't know if you've heard of it, but it's kind of like a marriage. They asked me if I would consider doing it, but I wanted to meet you first."

"To see if I was the heartless killer I've been purported to be?" Loki asked. His mouth twisted into a smirk, but his eyes weren't quite selling it.

"No, to see if you wanted to do it. I can't make this decision for you. We don't know each other, and that's not going to change between now and the ritual if you decide to do it, but at least it gives us a chance to have met." 

Loki raised his eyebrows, but if he was surprised, impressed, or simply curious, it was impossible to tell. "And they find you expendable? Tossing you off to the villain? Is it because you're not one of their people?"

Defensive, that's what it was. The redirect immediately about Bucky's citizenship status, because, sure, he was clearly not from Wakanda, was obvious, but quick. 

Bucky smiled. "If they thought you were the villain, we wouldn't be having this conversation. And I'm not expendable. I'm strong, stronger than most humans, and I have the right to say no."

Loki eyed Bucky's vibranium left arm at the wrong _strong_. "Do I? Have the right to say no?"

"You do, but your options are more limited. You could convince Thor that you'd prefer to spend the rest of your days in this cell, that he should go on building Asgard without you. Or if you can't do that, or don't want to, Thor is willing to move onto another destination. But let me assure you that Earth will not be that place. What Wakanda is offering is more than anyone else will."

There was another spell of silence before Loki spoke again. "Did they tell you the details of the bond? When Asgardians use the word eternal, we mean that quite literally, Barnes. Our souls would be intertwined not only in this life, but in death."

Okay, no one had mentioned that, but it was very easy for everything Loki was saying to sound a lot more dramatic, from his well lit room compared to the dark corridor where Bucky stood and the theatrical, charismatic tone of his voice.

"Sounds intense for a first date," Bucky replied.

The corner of Loki's mouth twitched. "I only wish for you to be fully informed, a courtesy you seem intent on offering to me. Agreeing to this is not a matter to be taken lightly."

"Oh, I've already made up my mind. I'm doing this. It all depends on you and what you want." Bucky had decided he was doing this before he even walked into the building. But he knew what a lack of agency was like. Loki deserved a choice, no matter his past.

Loki blinked. "As you said, you don't know me. You have no idea what I'm capable of. Why would you take an eternal bond with a man you've spoken to for five minutes? Much less one you know to be a villain."

Bucky shrugged. "I'm a risk taker. And I'm a guy who was given a second chance, and you're a guy who needs one of those right about now."

"What if we can't stand the sight of each other within a week? Or I slit your throat while you sleep? Or I simply do something that puts me right back into this cell?"

"That's the risk." Bucky took a step back. "I'll see you around, Loki. Whatever you decide."

He kept his cool as he walked back through the corridor, but when he got to the other side of the door, he leaned against the wall and let out a huge breath.

"So, did you get the information you needed?" Okoye asked.

"I did," he replied. "I'm going to do it. I was always going to do it, but... I just want to give him what Wakanda offered me. Meeting him, I think he needs that."

She narrowed her eyes. "Are you thinking with your penis?"

Bucky barked a laugh. "No!" Then he thought about Loki's piercing, suspicious gaze and it made his stomach twist slightly. "Maybe like ten percent penis."

Okoye pursed her lips in a way that made it clear she was trying not to laugh. "We should go tell the kings the good news."

"It's only good news if Loki agrees."

"Oh, he'll agree. This gives him far more freedom than he deserves, and if what Thor says is correct, Loki doesn't want to disrupt the lives of the people anymore than have been." She gave Bucky a once over. "And he may also be thinking with his penis."

Bucky's eyes widened "You think so?"

She made a noncommittal noise. "I suspect Loki is many things, but a fool is not one them. This is a smart move for him. No matter which part of his body he chooses to decide by."

"That's... an incredibly nice thing to say." He pushed off the wall and started toward the exit, but Okoye stopped him by pointing a finger in his face.

"You, however, are a fool and this is a terrible decision."

"I'll take that under advisement." Bucky stayed still until she was ready to move, which was only a second later, but even a second of staring down a Dora Milaje could be terrifying. Let alone the General.

As they walked toward the exit, Bucky glanced over his shoulder at the door that led to the holding cells again, as if he could see Loki through it.

He was certainly getting into something, but whether it was going to be good or bad, time would tell.

* * *

Over the last few weeks, Bucky had sat in on a lot of these council meetings. He had been invited as the first Wakandan refugee, though he never saw his path that way. He went there to get his brain fixed. Staying and making a home for himself came later. However, settling one person was completely different from settling five hundred.

There were simple things like location to consider, like how much land the Asgardians would need for their homes and their own farms. Then it got into more complicated matters, like laws of the land, now that there was going to be essentially a town in Wakanda with its own king. Did Thor's rule in supersede T'Challa's in the Asgardian district? Could Asgardian laws be upheld over those of Wakanda?

Bucky left those questions to the council. His name only came up on the subject of Loki.

The meeting today was unlike any of the others Bucky had attended. The full council wasn't there, only T'Challa and Okoye, along with Shuri. Bucky was surprised to see her there, as she left the politics to her brother, and preferred to stay at work on her innovations, but he was grateful. She brought a lightened mood, and this meeting was no different. She kept sending him pictures from a Twitter account called "Golden Retrievers that Look Like Captain America" and making him laugh.

The meeting was also being attended by Thor, Heimdall, Valkyrie, and to Bucky's even greater surprise, Loki.

Loki was wearing the same green leather he had worn when Bucky had visited him in his cell, but today he also wore thick vibranium cuffs around his wrists. Bucky tried not to stare at him, but his gaze kept being drawn back to him, to size up Loki a little bit more. He only looked away when Loki caught his eye.

He still felt the weight of Loki's gaze on him well after.

"Both parties have agreed to the eternal bond," Heimdall said. "We should be ready to proceed in two day's time. All we need at for each participant to select three family members or loved ones to witness their act of intimacy."

"I suppose that defaults to the three of you," Loki said, glancing at his Aesir companions. "No one else quite qualifies."

"Don't mistake me for your loved one," Valkyrie said. "I'm just here for the free sex show."

Heimdall smiled. "The intimacy doesn't need to be sex, but it has been a popular choice over the years."

Bucky missed the part where he needed volunteers. The only family he had left was Steve, and since sending the Asgardians to Wakanda, he'd been out of contact. It wasn't terribly uncommon, so Bucky wasn't worried, but in deciding to bond himself to another person, he had left a few panicked messages. He needed someone to talk to, and Steve's voicemail had been the best he could get.

"I, uh, don't have any family to ask," Bucky said, and was immediately swatted on the back of the head by Shuri. He ducked away, then peered at her. "Ow. What was that for?"

"What do you think we are, dumbass?" she asked, motioning to herself, then T'Challa and Okoye. "We already volunteered."

A warmth spread through Bucky's chest at the notion that he was considered family, but it was quickly doused when he realized the implications of this. "I, uh, don't know if I want you to watch me having sex."

"I'm the one who's going to be watching it while standing next to my brother, so I don't know what's more awkward," she countered, and he had to admit, she had a point.

"Then it's settled," Heimdall said. 

He continued speaking, but Bucky stopped paying attention, his wandering eyes on Loki. This time, when Loki stared back, Bucky held his gaze. After a second, a ghost of a smile appeared on Loki's lips, and he turned his attention to Heimdall. 

When the meeting broke up, Shuri linked her arm with Bucky's. "He can't stop looking at you."

"He's curious, that's all," Bucky replied in a low voice. "I am too. But he is... nice to look at."

She smiled softly. "I remember watching the attack on New York on TV, and it looked so scary. All I could think was, 'At least that will never happen here,' but now... here he is. He looks so much smaller in person, but don't tell him I said so."

Bucky chuckled. He'd been on ice during the attack itself, but he saw the footage when the bond was proposed. It was a lot of damage, with Loki at the epicenter. Now, Loki still looked like he was capable of murder, but maybe not on quite such a massive scale.

"I'm going to go talk to him." Bucky pulled his arm away from Shuri's, then kissed her cheek. "Thanks for doing this."

"We should all be thanking you," she replied.

Bucky approached Loki and Thor slowly. They were deep in some sort of conversation (possibly argument, with loud, strained whispers) , and he didn't want to startle them. He was strong, but he was pretty sure Thor could punch him through a wall if he was spooked.

"Hey," he said when the two of them reached a pause in the probably-an-argument.

Thor smiled widely and placed a hand on Bucky's shoulder. "Ah, Barnes. I wanted to thank you again for doing this. I hope you find this to be as much of an honor as it is an obligation. Our parents had an eternal bond, you know. I suppose they still do."

The longer Thor spoke, the more glazed over Loki's eyes got.

"No problem," Bucky replied. His gaze shot to Loki and then back to Thor. "I'm happy to help. Could I, uh, have a minute with Loki?"

"Of course," Thor stepped away, then very obviously mouthed the word _behave_ over Bucky's shoulder at Loki.

Loki rolled his eyes. Once Thor was out of earshot, he turned to Bucky. "What did you want to speak with me about?"

"The ritual. We should maybe talk about how this is going to work. The whole intimacy thing."

"Oh, that." Loki pursed his lips and considered Bucky carefully. "I suppose braiding each other's hair is out of the question."

Bucky laughed. Loki was funny. He liked that. "Probably not, yeah. I mean, it's easy for other people doing this, they have their own definitions of intimacy, and we don't. We don't have anything to based this on and we're doing it anyway."

"Are you suggesting that sex may be our best course of action, then?"

"Yeah. It's a pretty direct source of intimacy. And it won't be so bad. Strangers fuck all the time."

"Not with an audience," Loki said, one side his mouth pulling upwards in a smirk.

"Not usually, no," Bucky agreed. "What do you like?"

Loki blinked at him. "What do you mean?"

"For sex. If we're going to do this, we might as well do it right."

His gaze darted around the room, at where Thor stood talking to T'Challa, at Heimdall keeping a passive eye on, well, everything, before he finally looked back to Bucky. "This is hardly appropriate to talk about in this space."

Bucky tilted his head to the side. "Are you a virgin?"

Loki bristled. "I'm not."

"It's all right if you are."

"I'm eleven hundred years old. I'm not a virgin." He hissed the last part, probably as overcompensation to not shout it. "My sexual encounters have been cursory. They were a means for release, not to have a conversation about personal preferences. I've been far too busy to engage in physical dalliances."

He was a bit defensive, and Bucky wasn't certain if he was lying or not, but there wasn't any point in fighting about it. "We can figure that out as we go. Try some stuff."

Loki's shoulders relaxed slightly. "What is it that you like, then?"

Despite being the one who brought it up, Bucky flushed a little. Maybe Loki was right. It was harder to talk about that he had anticipated. He thought it could be clinical, but they were going to have _sex_. In front of everyone who was in this room.

Bucky swallowed. If he could ask it of Loki, he could do it himself. "I like having my hair pulled. I like kissing, and I like sucking cock. I could suck you off. If you wanted."

Loki hesitated, then lifted his chin, rather proudly for a guy in handcuffs. "That would be adequate."

There was no offer to reciprocate, but if Bucky was being honest with himself, he didn't really need it. He wasn't kidding when he said he liked it. If Loki wasn't interested in doing anything else, Bucky could live with that. It was a political marriage after all.

"So, we have a plan?" Bucky asked.

"I suppose we do." Loki stepped forward slightly, and brushed his fingers against the back of Bucky's vibranium fingers. It was an awkward motion, his hands still cuffed together, but that made it all the more deliberate. "The next time we see each other, we'll be getting married. Are you prepared?"

A shiver ran up Bucky's spine. He couldn't properly feel anything through the arm, but Loki's touch felt like ice spreading through the rest of his body. "As I'll ever be," he replied hoarsely.

"I'm still the villain."

"I've spent three weeks in meetings with your brother insisting that you're not."

Loki smiled faintly. "He's a sentimental fool. Are you?"

This was a test, Bucky realized, and he was failing miserably. He needed to recover from being instantly seduced, though if he was being honest with himself, he _wanted_ to be seduced. But building a romantic relationship with Loki wasn't the purpose of this. He was meant to be a guardian. Being attracted to Loki was a side effect, but also a weakness.

He smiled, after a beat too long. "I guess we'll find out."

Loki's eyes lit up as his smile spread. "I suppose we will."

* * *

Bucky refused to be nervous about the ritual, but as the day finally arrived, his stomach was in knots. He tried to treat it like any other day: making meals, taking care of the goats, and then, a few hours before the ritual was to begin, taking a shower. 

He wiped the condensation from the bathroom mirror and considered shaving. That's what he would have done if he'd been getting married after the war. No one got married with facial hair, except for maybe a tidy mustache. He would have gotten a haircut and a shave. He would have been marrying someone he knew, not a stranger in a political arrangement.

Was this a terrible idea?

He heard his front door open, and that was enough to break him away from wondering if he was throwing his life away to investigate.

"You're not dressed!" Shuri said as a greeting. "You're wet! And naked!"

"You're the one who barged into my house without knocking," he replied easily. He wasn't exactly naked, but he supposed a towel around his waist hardly counted as _clothes_. "The ceremony isn't for hours."

"And there's a lot to prepare."

Bucky noticed Shuri was carrying a basket filled with pink and purple flowers. They were huge blooms, with soft looking petals. "You aren't going to put those in my hair, are, you?"

She laughed. "No, but I can fix your hair."

"What's wrong with my hair?" Bucky asked. It was still wet and limp around his shoulders, but at least he had run a brush through it.

"We'll get to it. At least put on some pants."

He did that, and also pulled on a t-shirt. He would dress for the ceremony later in the robe made specifically for it, though he hadn't actually seen it. He had been given a brief overview of what to expect, but most of it would be a surprise to everyone. Only Heimdall had witnessed one of these before.

"Bucky?"

He started and turned toward Shuri. "Yeah?"

She moved closer to him. "You've been staring off into space for about five minutes now."

He sighed. "Sorry, I'm... cold feet, I guess. I never put a lot thought into a wedding -- getting married, sure, but not the wedding itself -- but if I had, I don't think it would have been like this."

"What would it have been like?" she asked softly.

"I don't know," he replied, but even so, the words started tumbling out of his mouth. "Probably in a church, one of the big ones in the city if I was real lucky. Maybe I would have met some nice nurse overseas, or one of the neighborhood girls I used to go out with. All my sisters would have been there, my parents. Steve as my best man. I guess it doesn't matter anymore. My parents are dead, my sister who's still alive think _I'm_ dead, and Steve doesn't even know I'm getting married. I've call him a few times, but he's out of contact."

Shuri took his hand between both of hers. "I'm sorry it's not what you wanted."

Bucky shrugged. "I don't know if it's what I wanted. It's just what people did. But they did it that way for a reason."

"What reason is that?"

"It gave everyone a reason to be together, to celebrate something. We went from depression to war with not a whole lot of time in between. You had to find the good stuff where you could. Or you'd just lose it."

Shuri smiled. "Then we're going to find the good stuff where we can."

He laughed and pulled her in for a hug. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now go sit down. I'm going to fix your hair."

As promised, Shuri didn't put the flowers in his hair, but she did pull the top layers away from his face and into a fancy braid, tied with a purple ribbon.

"For Wakanda," she said as she made a bow. "You're our representative now."

"Due to a lack of options," Bucky replied dryly. "I'm a pretty pale representation of Wakanda. Pun intended."

Shuri rested her hands on his shoulders. "You may not have been born here, but you're an example of what we're trying to do: using our resources to help people. We may have never opened our doors to the Asgardians if we hadn't opened them to you first. Thor wouldn't have left Loki behind, or to live out his days in some prison, and who knows where they would have ended up. I think this is good for all of our people."

He took a slow breath, considering her words carefully. "Do you think it's good for me?"

"Time will tell."

That wasn't an answer, but it was the best they had.

Shuri left to tend to other things, and after a while Bucky got dressed. There wasn't much to the white robe, which surprised him, as it had been made custom by the Asgardian tailors. He'd been measured several times throughout the shoulders and chest for just the right fit.

He stripped out of his clothes and pulled the robe on over his bare skin.

On, it was still simple, but Bucky could see the work that had gone into it. The material was soft, and it fit him perfectly. Every seam he could see was flawlessly straight, and probably hand sewn. Was this what was done for royalty? So, it seemed there _were _going to be perks.__

In these last few minutes alone, Bucky sat down on the floor and tried to clear his mind. Once he left the house, he couldn't show any weakness. If he showed even the slightest hint of doubt, he was pretty sure Loki would bolt.

This wasn't just about him, but at the same time, it had everything to do with him. It was about making a home for the Asgard people, the way a home had been made for him. It was about bringing two cultures together, even if neither of them were his. It was about giving someone a second chance after one had been offered to him. It was giving back some of what he had been given.

It was bigger than him. He could do this.

It was nearly dusk when Shuri returned, this time with T'Challa and Okoye with her. They were each dressed in a robe similar to the one Bucky wore, though theirs were brightly colored in purple and red, and it was pretty obvious they were wearing clothes beneath them, unlike Bucky.

"Thank you again for doing this," T'Challa said as he shook Bucky's hand.

"If you change your mind now, no one would blame you," Okoye said, and it made Bucky smile. Steve may not have been there, or even aware that this was happening, but someone was definitely speaking on his behalf and he didn't know it.

"I'm all right," Bucky said with what he hoped was a reassuring nod. "I'm ready."

It was a short walk over a small foothill and in a wide space of open land, six torches had been placed in a large circle, each one with a huge flame that lit up the field with golden light. From the opposite direction, the Asgardians approached.

Bucky was struck with how incredibly attractive they all were. He knew this, he'd spent enough time with them to know, but in the fading light of day and the firelight, they were all _gorgeous_.

However, his eye kept being drawn back to Loki, who was dressed in an identical white robe, and this time without the cuffs. He appeared to be a little pale, and perhaps not quite as haughty, until he saw Bucky was watching him. His expression transformed to a much more confident mask.

At least Bucky wasn't the only one who was nervous. There was something about knowing this that made him feel a little bit better.

The eight of them met in the middle of the circle. There was some sort of ceremonious hand shaking going on around them, starting with Thor and T'Challa, and then everyone exchanging handshakes. Bucky was only dimly aware of it, unable to look away from Loki.

Loki gazed back at him levelly, and after a moment, he smiled. "This is quite ridiculous, isn't it," he said, not asking a question. His tone was quiet, and while everyone else was busy, only Bucky heard him.

Bucky thought about the spectacle around them and the ritual they were about to do. There was a reason for it, but maybe this was overkill. He smiled back. "Yeah, but... here we are."

"Here we are," Loki echoed. He reached out and took Bucky's hand. His skin was cool, but his grip was confident.

"Everyone to you stations," Heimdall said in his deep, calming voice. 

Bucky finally look away from Loki to watch as their witnesses move away from the center of the circle and each one of them took a place in between the torches. He was grateful to see that there was plenty of space between Shuri and T'Challa -- he didn't want this to be any more awkward for them than this was already.

Unlike the others, Heimdall stayed close. He began speaking in a language Bucky didn't understand, but Loki seemed to. It was lyrical and soft, and in Heimdall's deep tone, it could have lulled Bucky to sleep if not for Loki's grip on his hand and the pull in the center of his chest. It wasn't painful, but an awareness of a place he'd never thought of before.

While Loki was watching Heimdall, Bucky took on the line of Loki's jaw, the milky blue vein that ran down the side of his neck, and the shape of his lips. Yes, he could work with this, assuming he wasn't immediately murdered in his sleep, a thought that might not have crossed his mind if Loki hadn't mentioned it himself.

Still speaking, Heimdall reached into his satchel and pulled out a vial of oil and a dish about the size of his hand. He poured the oil into the dish and held it out.

This was the point of no return, as it was. Bucky released Loki's hand and dipped his fingers into the oil. It was smooth, thick, and perfumed with spice. He watched as Loki's long fingers joined his in the dish, and they stirred up the oil together, fingertips brushing against each other. 

Once their fingers were sufficiently coated, they stepped closer together, right into each other's personal space. 

"Your bond is my body," Bucky recited in a low voice. "And my body is yours." He could hear Loki's soft, dry breathing as he reached up to place an oiled finger at the exposed skin of Loki's throat.

Loki gasped at the contact, his body jerking as if his instinct was to step away, but he stayed put. He raised his own hand, shaking fingers, reciting the same lines back to Bucky, as he brushed against Bucky's collarbone. Bucky immediately understood this reaction.

The pull in his chest turned to a hard jerk, as if something inside of him was trying to get out, to become closer to Loki. Bucky shuffled forward, though there was barely any space between them as it was, and with his clean hand, the one made of cool vibranium, he cupped Loki's face and kissed him.

That wasn't a part of the script, though from Heimdall's chuckle, Bucky guessed it wasn't _wrong_. It seemed like the thing to do.

Loki hesitated a second before he responded, and then did so fervently. His body was suddenly pressed flush to Bucky's, his oiled hand at the side of Bucky's neck and his _mouth_ \-- his mouth was warm, his tongue pushing past Bucky's lips as if to taste him. It was a bit wet, but it sent a shiver of pleasure down Bucky's spine. The rest of it could go wrong, but at least they were good at this.

"Boys," Heimdall said, and they parted, though not quite as far from each other as they had been. 

Bucky grinned sheepishly, while Loki's cheeks were tinged pink, but it was impossible to say if it was from arousal or embarrassment. His expression was nothing but his regular brand of cool confidence.

Heimdall spoke a few more words in the unfamiliar language, and Bucky zoned out a little, his attention on the way Loki licked his lower lip, and the warm spot left by the oil on his own neck. He knew what was coming next, and he wanted it.

"Since you're so enthusiastic," Heimdall said in English, breaking Bucky out of his reverie, "I'll leave you to it." He took a step back and then walked to the empty space in the circle, completing the array of witnesses.

"You ready?" Bucky brought his hand back to the front of Loki's robe. The thick oil was still clinging to his fingers.

Loki took a long look around them, at all the people watching, so Bucky did too. He thought maybe it would be easy to get past this part, that he would forget that these firsts were all being observed, but there was no way to separate it. So he looked too, and accepted it.

He would have had to turn around to see Thor and Okoye, but from where he was standing, he could see T'Challa watching, with his hands behind his back, serious and royal. There was Valkyrie, with her hands on her hips, and her hair blowing artfully in the soft breeze, with a slight scowl on her face, He turned his head to look Shuri's way, she was smiling, and as he caught her eye, she winked at him. He smiled back.

When Bucky looked toward Heimdall, he saw Heimdall nod, but it wasn't to him. It was to Loki.

"I'm ready," Loki said, as Bucky turned his attention back to him. He placed his hands on Bucky's chest, his thumbs slipping beneath the fabric of the robe. "But you first."

"Sure." He dropped his arms to his sides and tried to relax them as well as he could. He let out a slow breath as Loki pushed the robe from his shoulders.

The robe didn't fall to the ground, but only to his waist, where it was still tied in place. Still, his upper half seemed to be interesting enough to Loki's whose eyes widened as he ran his hands lightly across Bucky's bare chest.

Bucky stifled a gasp. He didn't want Loki to stop, but as his oiled hand touched the skin, the pulling in Bucky's chest got stronger. Whatever magic they were using to bind them, the oil was the conduit.

Loki didn't seem to notice, dragging his hands down the length of Bucky's torso with fierce concentration. He licked his lips again as he smoothed a hand over the side of Bucky's ribs.

"Like it?" Bucky asked. He wasn't sure he'd ever had his body so thoroughly inspected before.

Loki looked up at him, his expression dark with lust. "It's adequate."

A grin threatened at Bucky's lips, but he controlled himself. Loki wasn't fooling anyone, except maybe himself. Instead, he placed his hands at Loki's chest against and slowly pushed back the robe until it fell to Loki's waist.

Bucky swallowed, staring. Loki was all lean muscle, with no bulk to slow him down. His skin was flawless, without even the slightest freckle or blemish. Just perfect musculature and two tan nipples against pale skin.

"Adequate," he whispered, touching an oiled finger to one of Loki's nipples.

Loki swelled toward him. "This is..."

Bucky didn't find out what it was as Loki's words melted into a moan. He shot Bucky a dirty look as his body shuddered. Bucky grinned and kept going.

As Bucky ran his hand across Loki's abs, enjoying the feel the the solid muscle beneath, he had the realization that he was aroused. He'd been aware of his heightened senses, the way his skin tingled under Loki's touch, and even his cock hardening, but he'd been so focused, the arousal almost came on suddenly.

He slid his hand around Loki, just above the waist and pulled him close. He was glad he decided not to shave, as Loki made an unmistakably aroused noise when the scruff made contact with his cheek. Bucky brushed his mouth over Loki's ear, fuck it, because he could.

"You want to move onto the next part?" he asked.

Loki nodded. "Undress me."

Without considering it, Bucky dropped to his knees. He pulled at the tie around Loki's waist until the white robe fell from him and onto the ground. Now, Loki took above him, completely naked, and he was beautiful.

Being attracted to Loki had seemed like a perk. Now it was a goddamn prize. His cock was perfect, and while Bucky couldn't wait to get his mouth around it, he didn't want to just do that anymore. If they were only going to do this once, he was going to savor it.

Bucky ran his hands up the back of Loki's thighs until his hands were cupping Loki's ass. He gave it a squeeze and grinned up at Loki. "Sit down."

"On the ground?" Loki asked, as if the ground was the most preposterous place to sit.

"Yeah. I want to get my hands all over you. And my mouth." Bucky licked his lower lip for effect, but in all honesty, his mouth was watering for it. "Don't worry, you'll still look cool."

Loki lowered himself onto the soft grass and sat down with his legs open, bent at the knees. "Come here. Let me take off your robe."

Bucky moved forward as gracefully as he could on his knees, moving between Loki's legs. Loki leaned forward and pulled at the tie. He didn't wait for the fabric to fall, but yanked it away, and tossing the robe aside. He stared at Bucky's cock for a moment and then nodded.

"That'll do fine."

"I'm glad you approve," Bucky replied. He rubbed his hand down Loki's oiled chest. "Lean back."

Loki did as he was told, for probably the first time ever, sitting back and resting his weight on his hands. His body tensed when Bucky brought his lips Loki's stomach, but the sigh he let out was one of pure pleasure.

Bucky didn't spend to much time kissing his way don Loki's body. He would have liked to have drawn it out for hours, to get Loki moaning for him, begging if he could manage it, but his own impatience got the better of him. He buried his nose in the surprisingly soft, dark pubic hair at the base of Loki's cock and breathed in deeply.

Slowly, Bucky mouthed his way up Loki's dick before licking his way around the crown. Loki grabbed a handful of Bucky's hair and tugged.

Bucky growled, his cock throbbing at the contact, but he got the message and took Loki into his mouth. Now, Loki filled all of Bucky's senses. There was nothing but the clean scent of Loki, the way his cock felt against Bucky's tongue, the taste of his precome, and the soft, breathy gasps he emitted as Bucky took more of him.

Loki's hand slid to the back of Bucky's head. He never quite forced Bucky further onto his dick, but his hand wrapped around the braid Shuri had made earlier and pulled again. Bucky moaned, and like a chain reaction, Loki's moan followed.

Bucky reached his flesh hand up to press against Loki's chest, and after a second, he felt Loki's hand clasp over it. Bucky glanced up, and Loki's core muscles were tense, as they were the only thing holding him upright. His mouth was half open and his eyes closed, lost in the pleasure Bucky was giving him.

Tugging on Bucky's braid again, Loki mumbled, "Barnes. Barnes, I--

That didn't take long, but the situation was so extreme, Bucky couldn't blame him for it. Bucky shifted his efforts toward the head, and a second later, he felt the pulse of Loki's cock against his lips as Loki came.

Bucky swallowed what he could, while Loki flopped onto the grass, his entire body stretching out. Bucky kept sucking at Loki's softening cock until he got another tug on his hair, this one sharper.

"Come here," Loki said, once he had Bucky's attention. "If you keep doing that, I'll grow hard again and we'll never get to finish."

Bucky's eyes widened slightly. He had the stamina to go for a few rounds, thanks to the serum, but the idea that Loki could match him -- they couldn't not do this again. It would be a waste.

As Bucky moved to become parallel to Loki, his cock brushed against Loki's thigh. It was all he could do to not rub himself against the smooth skin, but for all that Bucky had forgotten about their audience while he'd been blowing Loki, he was suddenly very aware of them and what they would think if he began mindlessly humping Loki's leg. Never mind what Loki would think of it.

Bucky fell down next to Loki and smiled. Even as his dick begged for attention, seeing the deeply satisfied expression on Loki's face was enough to sustain him. He felt that tug in his chest again, the pull to be closer to Loki. "Hi."

"Hello," Loki replied. His hand wrapped around Bucky's dick and began to stroke him slowly. "Is this good?"

At this point, Loki could tapped out "fuck you" in morse code on the head of Bucky's cock and he probably would have come. The very deliberate stroke made Bucky choke. "Yes," he gasped, and not three strokes later, he came across Loki's hand.

"Oh," Loki said, as if surprised by his hand now being sticky spend. He turned his gaze to Bucky. "Satisfied?"

"Not nearly," Bucky said and kissed him. "That was good."

"That's obviously all I wanted. To be so good as to never satisfy you," Loki said, sarcastic as ever.

Bucky rolled onto his back and caught a glimpse of everyone standing around them. "That's right, they're all still here."

As if sensing they were finished, Heimdall approached them again. "You can stay where you are," he said, and then continued speaking in the foreign language. As he did, a white orb began to form over Bucky's chest. It cut brightly through the yellow firelight, almost blinding in its brightness.

"What is that?" Bucky asked, his voice barely above a whisper. He turned his head and there was another one over Loki.

The lights flashed and then vanished, leaving little spots in Bucky's vision. 

"It's done," Heimdall said. He looked down at the both of them and smiled. "Stand when you're ready. Take your time." He turned to the circle and said, "Witnesses, your torches."

Bucky supposed if he and Loki were actually lovers, they would be cuddling right now, whispering to each other, but as it was, Bucky simply sat up. He watched as the witnesses around them, began to pull the torches from the ground.

Loki also sat up and sighed. "Do you feel differently?"

"I..." Bucky considered it, and then shook his head. "The same. Kinda tired."

"Me too." Loki glanced around at everyone still watching them, but now with a torches. "The sooner we get up, the sooner they'll leave."

Bucky laughed. Yeah, he was definitely done with having witnesses. "You're right. Let's go." He got to his feet and then helped Loki up. He glanced over at Heimdall and nodded.

All eight of them started walking, and while they didn't remain in a perfect circle as they moved, but the circle was the intention. They went back in the direction of Bucky's house, where a large metal trough, substituting for a bathtub, was set up, but he hadn't noticed it at all when he left.

The bath, according to Heimdall, had some sort of bonding property, to seal the ritual, but it was great for getting off the residual oil, sweat, and come. Bucky didn't mind this sort sort of practicality in his rituals.

The water in the trough was an opaque milky white and smelled vaguely floral. While the witnesses placed their torches in another circle around the trough, Bucky stepped into the tub, surprised to find that it was still incredibly warm. Magic or a heater beneath the trough? It was impossible to tell at this point.

Loki followed him in, and they both sat down on opposite ends of the trough. They both fit, but only just, their legs bumping against each other. Bucky couldn't help but rub his foot along the inside of Loki's calf.

The basket of blooms Shuri had earlier made another appearance, as the the trough was encircled closely by the witnesses. The six of them passed the basket around and dropped the pink and purple flowers into the bath. Against the white water, it was a beautiful effect.

The ritual was over, and the circle began to break up. Thor stayed in place, and leaned over, resting a hand on Loki's shoulder to whisper something in his ear, grinning. Loki, on the other hand, rolled his eyes.

Shuri walked past Bucky, and for a second he thought wasn't going to say anything, her face stoic and quite regal, but at the last second she bent over and whispered, "That was hot!"

Bucky started laughing. "Never think about that again."

She grinned at him. "Oh, I'll be thinking about it."

It wasn't until every was gone that Bucky looked back to Loki. "So, that's done."

"It is," Loki replied. He dunked his hand into the water and splashed some of it onto his chest to rinse away the oil. "It is nice to no longer be in a cell. Though this is..." He looked over at the house with distaste. "I suppose it's good I have no belongings."

"Well, what's mine is yours," Bucky said. He tried not to sound testy. There was no accounting for your entire home world being destroyed and then immediately upon arriving to another planet as a refugee, being put immediately into a cell. But he liked his house, no matter how far away from a golden palace it was. As the plans to build the Asgard district were forming, there weren't going to be any palaces at all. 

They fell into silence, with Loki pushing a purple flower across the surface of the water.

Bucky swallowed. "So, about that sex. What'd you think? And don't say it was adequate."

A smile flashed across Loki's face, giving away that was _exactly_ what he was about to say. "You are skilled with your mouth."

That was a pretty big admission considering Loki, so Bucky took the compliment. "Is that something you'd like to do again?"

"I think not."

Bucky blinked. "Why not? I thought -- you didn't like it?"

"I liked it quite a bit, in fact, but I'm here because the other options were life in a cell or uprooting the entirety of my people because Thor would not accept me living in a cell. I'm not going to give anyone the satisfaction of thinking I'm here because I'm enjoying myself."

"Really? You're going to deny yourself something you want out of spite?"

Loki smiled again. "I've sacrificed far greater things for less."

Bucky sat back, relaxing against the rounded end of the trough. "All right then. Well, we've got three days before anyone expect to see us. I hope you're reading a good book, because it's going to be some quiet alone time."

"You aren't going to press the issue?" Loki asked.

"And get in the way of your noble sacrifice? Nah. You can have this one. If you change your mind, let me know."

"Is this reverse psychology?"

Bucky shook his head. "It's me giving you what you want. No tricks, no strings. If you don't want to sleep with me, you don't have to. If you want to, it's an option. Because I think we could be really great at it. Magic bond aside, that was fun, and we could have more fun when we aren't feeling hindered by an audience."

Loki was quiet for a moment, and then his foot brushed the inside of Bucky's thigh. "It could be worth it to try. Since we have the time."

Bucky smiled. "I'm glad you think so."

* * *

After the end of their ritualized honeymoon, Bucky and Loki both went to work on the Asgard district's new construction. The Asgardians, minus Loki, were still living out of the spaceship they had arrived on, and with Loki's issues settled, developing the land the Wakandan council had designated for them could begin.

Bucky went to work anyway. Most days, he wasn't sure what Loki _did_. Though if he concentrated very hard, he could get a vague notion, like a hunch, of Loki's location. If he  
went to investigate, he found himself correct every time. As the weeks passed, he found he didn't even bother checking. He trusted the instinct.

One day Bucky followed his Loki tracking skills to a shady tree where Loki sat on the ground entertaining a group of children, who all appeared to be under the age of seven, both Wakandan and Aesir, with magic tricks.

They were simple, making a silver coin disappear from one hand only to appear in the other, or tossing the coin in the air only for it to vanish mid-flight and Loki "finding" it behind a little girl's ear, to her delighted giggles, and Loki appearing indulgently pleased.

Bucky used to do the same thing with a little rubber ball to make his sisters laugh, but that was clumsy sleight of hand. Loki was using actual illusion magic for his tricks.

If this was all a ruse to charm Bucky, it worked. He smiled to himself and wandered way. Assuming it wasn't a trick, he didn't think Loki would want him to see this. 

In the evenings, Bucky found himself alone in the house with Loki. Their time not fucking was generally spent in silence, reading or doing other quiet activities alone. It was like living with a very sexy stranger, which, for all intents and purposes, Bucky was.

But the sex was worth it.

Bucky discovered that Loki's quickness to orgasm wasn't situational, but standard. However, he followed it by getting hard again almost immediately, and could come two or three times for every one of Bucky's orgasms. It was a fun challenge, seeing how many orgasms he could get out of Loki in a night -- the record so far was eight.

"Do you like that?" Loki asked one night, still breathless from his fifth orgasm. He turned his head to peer at Bucky. "Being penetrated?"

Bucky rolled onto his side. He really wanted to reach out and touch Loki, but other than during sex, they hadn't quite gotten there. Even touching post-coitally was too intimate, so he kept his hands to himself. "By you? Sure."

There had been a few bumps along the way as they figured out each other's bodies, especially as they moved beyond blow jobs. Bucky wasn't sure what to do with himself after one of Loki's orgasms, sitting and waiting while Loki grew hard inside of him again, leaving them with awkward minutes of silence. It was Loki who had taken to kissing Bucky's neck and stroking him in these quiet lulls. They filled that space with hands and lips until Bucky could resume riding Loki into oblivion. 

Loki nodded. "Seeing your enjoyment of it, I would like to try. I've never been."

Bucky grinned. "I can fix that."

"Not now."

"No," Bucky agreed with a smile. "Not now. Sometime when I can warm you up slowly. Take my time. Really make you feel good."

Loki considered him for a moment, and then kissed him. "I would like that."

Surprised by the kiss, Bucky took a chance and rested his metal hand on Loki's chest. He held his breath. Loki looked down at it, and then closed his eyes.

"I'm going to sleep now," he announced.

Bucky used his kimoyo beads to turn out the lights and closed his eyes, too. His hand remained there for the rest of the night.

* * *

It started as a regular morning. Loki had initiated some quiet, lazy sex before they even got out of bed, and Bucky thought this was possibly the best way to start any day. After a quick shower, Bucky headed out the door to get to work in the Asgard district. Some days, Loki went with him, but most of the the time, Bucky had no idea what Loki did all day, since it certainly wasn't manual labor.

Bucky didn't get far. He was one step outside when he spotted the figure approaching the house, not quite in the distance. "Steve?" He was easy enough to spot, big as a refrigerator, but his hair was longer and he was sporting a thick beard. No Captain America uniform, just jeans and a blue and white checked shirt.

"Hey, Buck," Steve called back to him, and picked up his pace, trotting toward him.

Bucky met him halfway, several yards from the house and hugged him. "I was starting to get worried about you. What are you even doing here? You know phones exist, right?"

Steve gave him a hearty squeeze and laughed as he stepped back. "Yeah, we were out of range for longer than expected. But then I got your messages, and then were weren't any for a while after that, I thought maybe something was wrong. After that extra long job, we could use the break, so I thought I'd just come see you in person. Check in."

"Oh, yeah." Bucky had forgotten about the slightly panicked messages he'd left Steve before the ritual. "It's been a lot of stress lately, with getting the Asgardians settled. I've been really busy."

"Maybe I can help."

"Yeah, come spend your vacation building houses," Bucky said with a laugh.

Steve rolled his eyes. "I don't really vacation."

"No, you really don't. Come on, then. I'll show you what we're doing."

They hadn't even turned away, when the door to the house opened and Loki stepped out, holding an apple. "Barnes, you forgot -- oh."

Bucky froze. In his surprise of seeing Steve, he had honestly forgotten that this was something they needed to talk about. In none of his messages to Steve had he actually _told_ him what was happening, just that they needed to talk. Unless Steve had heard about it through someone else -- Bucky figured that would have been the first topic if he had -- this was a harsh introduction.

Loki was at least dressed in a pair of Bucky's faded grey sweatpants and an undershirt, and not naked as Bucky had left him in the bed. His hair was brushed and smooth, but he definitely looked like someone who lived there.

Steve, I think you know Loki," Bucky said, slowly.

"We've met," Steve said, still staring, appearing vaguely confused. He turned to Bucky. "What's going on?"

"He hasn't told you?" Loki asked as he approached them. For someone who was barefoot and in pajamas, there was a sort of threatening quality to his tone. "We're married."

Steve paled slightly, but his face turned almost immediately to a scowl. "You're lying."

"Hardly," Loki replied, now standing next to Bucky. He slid a hand up the length of Bucky's vibranium arm. "Tell him, darling."

Bucky jerked his arm away. In the last month, Loki had never once called him anything remotely close to a term of endearment. Hell, he never even used Bucky's _name_. "Stop that."

Loki put on a hurt face. "Now, you didn't mind me touching it during our lovemaking not an hour ago."

"Jesus Christ," Bucky muttered. He knew Loki was doing this to get a rise out of Steve, but Steve was just staring at them. All Loki was accomplishing was annoyance, which for him was probably not a terrible side effect. "Can you go make trouble somewhere else for a while?"

"If you'd prefer," Loki replied. In an instant, his pajamas were transformed into the illusion of proper clothes. In Loki's case, that meant a suit, which most certainly meant he was going to take the trouble suggestion to heart. He tossed Bucky the. "Here. Your breakfast."

Bucky didn't say anything as Loki walked in the direction of Asgard. He turned to Steve, who still appeared confused, but maybe a little angry about it.

"So, it's true," Steve said.

"It's... it's complicated," Bucky said with a sight, "but essentially, yes, I married him. I bound myself to him."

" _Why?_ "

Bucky glanced at Loki's figure, still disappearing into the distance. "Let's go inside."

It wasn't going to be any easier to make Steve understand, but at least they wouldn't be standing in the hot sun. And there was less risk of Loki somehow listening in. Bucky figured this was going to require some privacy.

"Is this what your messages were about? When you needed to talk?" Steve asked once they were inside.

"It was," Bucky replied. He set the apple down in the fruit dish. He certainly wasn't hungry now. "It all happened so fast. Thor and T'Challa got hung up on Loki during the negotiations, and they needed a solution--"

"Prison wasn't a solution?" Steve asked.

Bucky sat down at the table, while Steve started a small rotation of pacing across the kitchen. "No, it wasn't. Not for Thor, who felt very strongly that Loki deserved another chance, and the rest of the people were behind him. Loki's actions directly saved Asgard from extinction. Putting him in a cell for that didn't sit right."

The muscles in Steve's jaw worked as he tried to find a flaw in that argument. "How did you get roped into this?"

"They didn't just want anyone to be bound to Loki, they wanted someone strong. Other than T'Challa himself, I'm the strongest one here. They asked, I said yes."

"You can get out of it. You can--"

"I can't," Bucky said. "We're bonded together, some magic thing. And more than that, I don't want to get out of it. I gave my word to T'Challa, to Thor, to _Loki_. I can't go back on that just because you don't like it."

"You could have waited until I called--"

"And held up the negotiations for another month? For what? So you could talk me out of it?"

Steve sighed. "It's a big decision."

"Yeah, it is," Bucky said, suddenly annoyed. "And I made it on my own. Or do you think I'm not capable of that?"

"I didn't say that. You're the one who called _me_ , remember?"

"And I'm starting to think that was a mistake. I was about to jump into an eternal bond with a stranger, and I wanted to talk to my best friend about it. I wanted you to be here. I needed witnesses, and you were the first person I thought of, and you weren't here." In retrospect, Bucky didn't think Steve would have very much liked being a witness for the ritual, but that was hardly the point.

Steve was quiet for a minute, and Bucky was glad for a chance to calm down. Finally Steve asked, "Was the other part true? Are you sleeping with him?"

"Yeah. So what? We're married, why shouldn't we?"

Steve narrowed his eyes as he studied Bucky's face. "Are you in love with him?"

Bucky sat back in the chair a little. "I don't know, man. I've known him a month, how the hell am I supposed to know that? And with the magic bond, it makes things weird."

"Weird how?" Steve no longer sounded angry, or even stressed. He seemed genuinely curious.

"Confusing, maybe. Like, in a moment, it will feel like I know everything about him, even when I know I don't, but maybe... everything that I need to know? And then, sometimes, I can almost feel what he's feeling, and it's so comforting, even when he's pissed off." Bucky brought his hand to his chest, where that little part of Loki's soul thrummed within him. "I've got a part of him in me, Steve. No matter what, that's not going away. I could never see him again, and I would still always be able to find him. I would always feel him."

Steve's expression had softened as Bucky spoke. "Okay."

"That's it? After all your bellyaching, ' _okay?'"_

"Yeah, that's it. You're right, you're an adult who can make his own choices. I don't have to like it, but I can live with it, and I'm not going to lose you over it. Besides, I've made a lot of dumb decisions, and they've all worked out." Steve made a face. "For the most part."

Bucky laughed. "Like that time you dropped a plane in the arctic and survived? Dumb luck."

Steve chuckled, too. "Just like that. You want to go show me these houses you're working on?"

"Let's do it." Bucky stood up started for the door, but stopped himself. He glanced back down to the fruit dish and picked up the apple Loki had handed him. He tucked it into his pocket, and led Steve to Asgard.

* * *

"Can you be nice?" Bucky asked as he and Loki got dressed. They were going into the city to meet up with Steve, Sam, and Natasha for dinner, and then a show. It seemed almost obvious to leave Loki behind, considering the history, but it also seemed mean. If this was part of Loki's second chance, he deserved to actually have one. "I know you can do it. You're nice to me."

"Being nice to you has benefits," Loki replied. "Being nice to them has none."

"Let me assure you, being nice to them has the same benefits as being nice to me."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Are we going to the theatre or an orgy?"

Bucky laughed as he pulled on his jacket. "Come on, trouble, let's go."

"Wait." Loki moved into Bucky's space and delicately straightened his tie. He smoothed a hand along the length of silk. "There. You should wear a suit more often."

"Yeah? Where am I going to wear a suit?" Bucky asked. His days were spent working construction and farming.

"Here. So I can look at you."

Bucky smiled. It could sometimes be difficult to tell when Loki was being genuine or trying to get something out of him, and there were times when Bucky simply had to decide to take a remark in good faith. This was one of those times.

"I'll take it under consideration." Bucky kissed him, then tugged him toward the door. "We're going to be late."

For someone who complained at length at being trapped in the middle of nowhere, Loki didn't seem all that excited about going into the city for an evening. They were halfway there when it occurred to Bucky that Loki might be nervous, as impossible as it sounded. It was far too late to make a good first impression on Bucky's friends, and Bucky knew enough at this point to know that Loki did care what people thought of him, even if he would deny it.

They weren't late, but were the last to arrive at the restaurant. Bucky greeted Steve quickly, but spent a little extra time saying hello to Sam and Natasha.

"Sam, you haven't met Loki, right?" Bucky asked.

"No, I missed the big fight that destroyed six blocks of New York City," Sam replied. Steve elbowed him, and apparently they had also been briefed to not be so hostile. Sam sighed. "I've heard a lot about you."

"It's nice to be thought of," Loki replied. He turned his gaze to Natasha and he smiled far too sweetly to be sincere. "Hello, Natasha."

She gave him a steady, unblinking stare, then turned to Steve. "I feel provoked."

Steve laughed, while she still looked deadly serious. "You're fine."

"Fine, I won't punch him in the face. I'll make conversation." Natasha turned back to Loki. "Killed anyone lately?"

"No," Loki replied, and he sounded quite surprised by this. "A few undead soldiers, those in the employ of a dictator, and my sister, though that was a group effort. That was months ago, and before that, I had been ruling Asgard in peace."

"So you're telling me you're due."

"Those deaths were in the defense of my people. If it came to that again, yes. As would you if in the defense of your people."

"Are you saying you're one of the good guys now?" Sam asked, clearly not believing the words coming out of his mouth.

"I can't imagine anything more dull," Loki replied. "I simply have had a change in priorities."

They were seated in a large, circular booth that could actually seat six, so there was plenty of room, yet Loki plastered himself to Bucky's side. As the meal went on, Loki's hand went from Bucky's thigh, to his wrist, and the back of his neck. If he thought the casual touching would get a rise out of anyone, he must have been disappointed. Other than a few looks from Sam that Bucky translated as _really??_ , there wasn't anything said.

Over dessert, Sam and Natasha began vehemently debating something that Bucky missed the beginning of, but it seemed more like an inside joke than an actual debate. As they went back and forth, with Steve smiling fondly at the both of them, Bucky quietly ate his rosewater cake.

Loki tilted his head toward Bucky's ear, and placing a hand firmly between Bucky's legs, whispered, "I wish to crawl beneath this table and blow you."

Bucky couldn't help himself, he grinned. It was all he could do to not laugh out loud. "You don't crawl anywhere," he murmured.

"Wait until we're home. I'll show you." Loki gave Bucky's cock a squeeze and kissed him.

"You're ridiculous," he said, still grinning. That was when he realized the entire table was staring at them. "What?"

Steve looked like he was about to start laughing. "I don't know if we can take the two of you to an even darker room."

"Maybe we should separate them," Sam added.

"Now, I quite like the theatre," Loki said. "I wouldn't ruin it for myself by being distracted."

Bucky nudged Loki with his elbow. "So that's how I can get back at you."

Loki's smile was smooth. "I'd love to see you try."

"Yeah, they're definitely separated," Natasha said.

"Can't take newlyweds anywhere." Steve shot Bucky the most shit-eating grin. Bucky grinned back at him. No matter Steve's incredibly valid reservations, Bucky knew Steve had his back on this.

It was nearly midnight by the time Bucky and Loki got home. Bucky had loosened his tie halfway through the show, but pulling it off was still satisfying. He was pulling at the buttons on his shirt, when Loki rested a hand on his back to gently acknowledge his presence before moving around to Bucky's front and getting on his knees.

"What are you doing?" Bucky asked, a slow smile spreading across his face.

Loki looked up at him. "I told you I would crawl for you."

He swallowed hard. He'd forgotten all about that comment, and certainly hadn't taken it serious. It didn't even matter that kneeling was hardly crawling, but Bucky still only managed to breathe out a soft, "Oh."

He was suddenly very aware he was in trouble. It was the best kind, but trouble.

* * *

As much as Bucky had enjoyed having Steve around, he knew it wasn't going to last. It was early in the morning, the sky still clinging to the blue of night as pink threatened daylight at the horizon. It wasn't exactly a planned leaving, Steve having called Bucky an hour before to let him know they were getting ready to leave and he was coming out to the house to say goodbye.

"I've had a lot of fun," Steve said, giving Bucky a hug. "Maybe there won't be any major life events by the next time I visit?"

"You never know," Bucky replied. "I can't make any promises."

Steve smiled, but it faded slightly as he turned his gaze to Loki.

Loki was standing off to the side of the door, with his arms crossed. He was a bit grumpy from being woken by Steve's call, but Bucky told him he didn't have to get up. He did anyway, even pulling on some clothes and coming outside. There was a slight widening of his eyes when Steve acknowledged him, but he gave no other tell.

"So," Loki said as Steve approached him, "is this the part where you puff up your chest and tell me if I hurt him you'll kill me?"

Steve gave him a long, measuring look. "No. This is the part where I ask you to take care of him."

This time, Loki's surprise was obvious, his jaw dropping. It lasted only a second, Loki recovering quickly to save face. "I already do," he said.

"Good." Steve held out his hand.

Loki hesitated. He tilted his head slightly to inspect Steve's hand, like maybe he was expecting one of those joke buzzers to be hidden between his fingers. Finally, he reached out, and they shook hands. 

"Good," Steve repeated, and turned back to Bucky. "Take care of yourself, okay? Watch your back."

"You too," Bucky replied, still not quite recovered from watching Steve and Loki come to some sort of understanding. He gave Steve another hug, and like that, Steve was disappearing into the distance.

"Was that satisfactory?" Loki asked.

Bucky wasn't sure if he meant the entire visit or the moment that had just occurred, but it had all been pretty good. "Yeah. It was."

* * *

Bucky walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist, still dripping slightly from his shower. It had been a couple weeks since Steve had left, and things had settled in that time. They got back into their routine: work, food, sex.

Until this evening, when Loki wrapped a hand around Bucky's arm. "Get dressed. I wish to show you something."

"It's dark out," Bucky said. "What are you going to show me?"

"The light in the darkness," Loki replied cryptically. He released Bucky's arm and stepped back. "Get dressed."

That was far too curious for Bucky to ignore, so he pulled on a clean pair of jeans and a fresh t-shirt, and followed Loki outside. It was pitch black, except for the bright shining of stars, their light unhindered by the new moon.

Bucky allowed Loki to lead him through the darkness until they were nearly half a mile from the house. He had superior night vision thanks to the serum, but he stumbled a few times still over the uneven ground.

It was impossible to miss their destination: a blanket spread across the grass with a dim red light to mark the spot, and a picnic basket.

"What's all this?" Bucky asked.

Loki made the face he used when he wanted to not show any emotion. It was a great tell for Loki feeling something, but it was frustrating to be unable to tell what the emotion was. "We had an extensive library in Asgard. Books on any subject you could imagine. From those books I learned constellations and the patterns of the stars over Asgard. My mother and I... it was a hobby we shared."

Bucky was afraid to say anything, lest he startle Loki into shutting down. He nodded encouragingly, and gently took Loki's hand.

"Since I've been out of the cell, I've tried to track the stars here, but the patterns are completely different. I got several books on the subject, but it's like starting over completely. And then I realized I already had. But tonight..." Loki smiled and it wasn't a smirk or a sexually satisfied grin, it was broad and genuine. "I discovered there are Asgardian constellations in the sky."

Bucky didn't know anything about constellations. He could spot Orion's belt, and after that, everything looked like the Big Dipper. But Loki's enthusiasm was contagious, and Bucky was willing to learn.

They settled down together on the blanket, and Loki revealed the basket to be full mostly with snacks: nuts, some cheese, and dried fruit, but also a bottle of red wine and two glasses.

This was a date, Bucky realized. Loki was taking him on a frankly, rather romantic date. He smiled and sat back to look up at the stars.

"Some of the star patterns are shared across the realms, the scars of the stars so deep they will shine through anything. Lupus, the bear, hydra--"

"Hydra?" Bucky repeated, starting at the word.

"The snake," Loki said. "Most of the zodiacal constellations also cross over. But look there, those three bright stars together?" He motioned to the sky with his long fingers. "That's the head of the boar. And there, to the east, the vertical line of stars, with the two crossing? That's the huntress, stalking him."

Bucky couldn't see any of this. Every clump of stars looked exactly the same to him, but the joy in Loki's voice as he spoke of them was too wonderful to complicate with Loki getting frustrated with Bucky's ineptitude. So Bucky nodded.

"It's beautiful," he said, and it wasn't even a lie. It didn't matter that he couldn't see the pictures in the sky, the starlight was gorgeous. And as he turned his head to watch Loki's glowing excitement, he repeated, "Beautiful."

Loki looked at Bucky, with an expression of knowing that his words were no longer about the sky. "We should open the wine."

"We should."

They drank all the wine, and ate some of the snacks, all the while Loki pointing out more constellations. Bucky stretched out on the blanket and looked up at the sky, letting Loki's voice wash over him. From this angle, he became incredibly aware of how the sky went on forever in every direction.

Loki lay down next to him, but it took only minutes before Loki's head was resting atop Bucky's chest. Tentatively, Bucky wrapped an arm around Loki's shoulders.

"I think sometimes of the palace library," Loki said. "I spent hours there as a child, and now all of that information is gone forever. So many books I never read."

"Is that why you've always got your nose in your tablet?" Bucky asked. "So you don't miss all the Earth books?"

Loki shrugged awkwardly. "I enjoy reading. I enjoy learning. I don't want more information to slip between my fingers. If I didn't know about the stars, I... it would have been one less thing about my mother to remember. When I saw them in the sky, it was almost like she was here."

"Thank you for sharing this with me," Bucky whispered. He was never going to know Loki's parents, but after this, it was nearly an introduction.

* * *

Bucky wiped the sweat out of his eyes. It was a scalding summer day, and even though he had already stripped out of his shirt and pulled his hair up, there was no relief from the hot sun. He emptied his water canteen and went over to the coolers Thor had commissioned from the city the day before for a refill.

The first of the homes were being finished, and soon some of the Asgardian families would be able to move out of the Statesman and into proper houses. 

Houses that had air conditioning, Bucky thought, thinking about how own cool house. He was already fantasizing about taking a shower and maybe laying on the tile floor to watch a film, or some activity that didn't involve moving.

"We've already had two pass out today," Valkyrie said as a greeting as Bucky approached the cooler. She was filling her own canteen, and like Bucky, her hair pulled back, though hers was in a braid, and she was topless.

It was something he learned quickly, that Aesir women would pull down the tops of their dresses, and go bare in extreme heat, just like men. At first he pointedly looked away, embarrassed by the sight of so many casually displayed breasts, but now he was considerably more used to it.

"All the technology in the world and we still can't control the weather," Bucky replied.

"Can't you get Shuri to invent a really big fan?"

Bucky was about to reply when he heard several small voices calling out, "Loki! Loki!" He and Valkyrie both turned to see Loki being followed by a parade of children. "Do a magic trick!" one child called.

"What in the hell is happening?" Valkyrie asked, halfway between confused and about to laugh at the funniest thing she'd ever seen her life.

Loki stopped in his tracks to look at them both. "Not a word."

"I have so many words," Bucky said with a grin as the kids continued to chant Loki's name. He knew as annoyed as Loki might seem, he loved being the center of attention, even if that attention was from five year olds. "Adorable is the first one."

Loki spun around and faced the children. "Will you stop?"

The kids stared up at him, one with big eyes that were welling up with tears from him snapping. He took them in and sighed.

"Fine. One illusion -- they are not magic tricks -- and then you find your parents."

A cheer broke out among the children, and at this point Valkyrie couldn't actually contain her laughter. The laughter and the cheering stopped abruptly at the sound of a blaring alarm in the distance.

"What is that?" Valkyrie asked.

"Border alarm," Bucky said, looking around for any sign that the border had been breached. As far as he could tell, there was nothing wrong, except for the sound of the alarm. This far out, they didn't have a cloaking dome like the capital city, but they were still protections. With the addition of Asgard, more protections were being added daily, but they were still not fully protected.

The working stopped as people came out of the nearly finished buildings to investigate the noise. An influx of people began to pour from the Statesman.

"Is it a false alarm?" a woman whose name Bucky didn't know asked.

"I don't think so," Bucky replied. In all time he'd lived this close to the border, he'd never witnessed a false alarm. He'd never even witnessed a breach. The only reason he knew the sound was from the very well publicized tests they ran a few times a year. "Everyone should get back inside."

"Did you hear that?" Valkyrie called in a booming voice that seemed far louder than it should be. Though, if Loki's word was to be believed, she had been an elite warrior, and needed to be able to heard over a large battle. "Go inside now! Into the ship."

"Barnes," Loki said, not shouting to even loudly, but still somehow Bucky could hear him over the crowd. He was look skyward, and Bucky followed his line of sight to what appeared to be nothing, but then Bucky saw the glimmer of cloaking reflecting in the sunlight.

" _Inside! Now!_ " Bucky shouted, as if the people weren't already running back to the Statesman, though some were still stopping to look around for the threat.

Dark creatures jumped out of the ship and landed on the ground. They were tall and broad, and wore masks over their faces, and carried some sort of weapon. First there were only two, but more poured out of the ship until there were nearly two dozen on the ground.

Bucky had seen a lot of shit, but this was a new one. He dared a glance over at Loki, who appeared stricken by the presence of these creatures. Whatever it was, Loki knew it.

"Asgard," said one of the creatures, its voice muffled by the mask, but that somehow made it all the more unsettling. "We have traveled far to find you. And now is the time of your death." 

It brought up its weapon and pointed it directly at Loki, who was standing in front of several people, including the group of children that had been following him.

Bucky didn't stop to consider his next move. He jumped in front of the blast, holding up his vibranium arm to take the blast. He heard something shatter, and then everything went black.

* * *

The first time Bucky woke, he was in pain. His chest felt like it was going to explode, his heart pounding in every pulse point, his head throbbing. When he opened his eyes, everything was blinding white, the lights far too bright. He struggled to get up, but he was strapped down, and it only made him struggle more, shouting, but none of it sounded like words.

"Barnes!" Loki placed a hand on Bucky's chest, as to perhaps hold him down, though the straps took care of that. "Barnes, you're safe. Calm yourself."

"It _hurts_!" Bucky barked at him, but the words were wrong. He'd slipped into Russian and couldn't quite get himself back to English. It didn't matter. Pain seared through every nerve of his body, and he couldn't _move_. "Get me out of here or I'll fucking kill you."

If Loki understood him, his expression gave nothing away. "You need to rest."

Bucky ground his teeth as her continued to struggle against his bonds, his front tooth catching on his lip and splitting it open. Blood filled his mouth and he spat in the direction of Loki's face. "Get me out of here so I can die."

Loki, with a splattering of blood and spittle across his cheek, calmly reached up to place a hand across Bucky's forehead. "You need to rest," he repeated, and Bucky's body went limp.

"What did you do?" Bucky asked, eyes closing, and he was out before he could hear a response.

The second time Bucky woke, everything was blurry. He was a vaguely aware that he was laying down, in a bed with soft pillows. His vision was blurred and his head felt like it was swimming away from him. Somewhere, he could hear music playing, but the tune wasn't familiar. He tried to speak, but the words were mush in his mouth, and it came out more like a moan.

The sound seemed to have caught someone's attention, because a cool hand pressed against his forehead. Oh, his face was on _fire_ , and the fingers, now running down the side of his face, felt like blessed relief.

"Feels good," Bucky slurred, leaning his face into the touch.

"I imagine it does," Loki replied dryly.

Bucky turned his head and Loki was sitting next to the bed. He smiled, but Loki's stoic expression never changed. There was a bit of a halo around his head, but that was probably a trick of the light. "Hi."

Loki's fingers continued to run up and down the length of Bucky's face, dragging slowly from his temple to his chin, leaving cool lines against Bucky's skin. "You're a fool, Barnes. Go back to sleep."

That sounded like a good idea. Bucky closed his eyes and drifted off.

The third time Bucky woke, he was less fuzzy. As he opened his eyes, he had an awareness that his feet were cold, while the rest of his body was comfortably warm. He licked his lips, finding them dry, but not chapped or split. "Hey."

Loki was perched at the end of the bed, with Bucky's exposed feet in his lap. He held the left foot in his hand, his thumb pressed into the arch. "You're awake."

"And you're rubbing my feet." For a second, Bucky thought he was still asleep and was dreaming, but other than the surreal nature of Loki touching his feet, he felt very awake. He tried to sit up, but when he leaned to his left, his shoulder moved, but nothing else happened.

His arm was gone.

"Oh."

"You shouldn't be moving anyway," Loki said. He wasn't actively rubbing Bucky's foot now, but he hadn't set it back down onto the bed. His grip had tightened slightly around it, but it felt good. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Sort of," Bucky said. Despite Loki's warning, he used his right hand to push himself up into a sitting position. "Is there water?"

"I'll get it." Loki wriggled out from beneath Bucky's feet, and once he was standing, he pulled the blanket over them. He moved around the bed to a table to Bucky's right where a pitcher and a plastic cup sat. He filled the cup and handed it to Bucky. "Here." 

Bucky took the cup from him, not entirely sure this was _Loki_ , but his touch had been completely real, with no illusion. "Thanks."

Loki gazed at him darkly, as if daring him to question why he was being so nice. "You're welcome. How are you feeling?"

"Tired," Bucky said after swallowing a sip of water. "What happened with the... what were they?"

"Dark Elves," Loki replied. "We thought they had exterminated, but it seemed they had not. After you were... Thor, Valkyrie, and several of the Border patrol took care of them in short order. It was a small army, a few leftover renegades who had been tracking us since Asgard's destruction in hopes of revenge. It only took them this long to find us because of Wakanda's cloaking."

Bucky nodded. That all made sense. "How long have I been out?"

"Several weeks now," Loki said, and he paused while Bucky choked on his next sip. "You were wrought with infection from your wounds. Shuri has been keeping a close eye on you."

Bucky nodded, a tingling numbness spreading down his spine. The idea that he'd been out for weeks was a surprise, but it wasn't unfamiliar. He sometimes spent years under ice with no sensation of the passing time. He'd only thought he was past the point in his life where time went on without him.

"Should we tell Shuri I'm up?" he asked, setting the cup back onto the table.

"I'm sure she already knows," Loki said. He took Bucky's wrist in his hand and turned it over to reveal a small patch about the size of a quarter on the inside of his arm. "According to the screen over your head, your heart rate has elevated since you woke."

"Oh," Bucky said again.

Loki lifted his hand, then hesitated, as if unsure of what he should do, before going ahead with it, and touching his fingertips to Bucky's chin. 

Bucky froze, not wanting to startle Loki into stopping whatever it was he was about to do, but he could dimly hear the monitor behind him beeping faster as his heart began to pound.

With his thumb, Loki wiped away a droplet of water that was clinging to Bucky's lower lip. "There."

It wouldn't have taken anything for Bucky to press his lips to Loki's thumb, if he had only thought about it about two seconds before he did. When the thought crossed his mind, Shuri entered the room, and he turned his face away from Loki to look at her.

"You're awake!" she said brightly, crossing the room to him. "How are you feeling?"

"Hungry," Bucky replied. He was also a little horny, and while that seemed like a good sign, and probably something he should mention, he wasn't going to mention it to his nineteen year old doctor.

Shuri grinned. "Good. We'll get you some food soon. Something easy, like soup. You've been fed through a tube for well over three months now."

Bucky looked back and forth between her and Loki. For some reason _several weeks_ had translated in his mind to three weeks, maybe a month. "I didn't think the hit was that bad."

Shuri's smile faded. "Bucky, you were hit with the full force of a plasma blast at close range. If your prosthetic hadn't taken the brunt of it, you would have died. You would have been eviscerated."

He took a second to process that information. He'd been so close to death so many times before. He remembered all of it, but the Asset had nothing to lose, and didn't even have a sense of his own mortality. Another scrape by for Bucky Barnes. Yet, this felt more real. Closer than he'd ever come before.

"Bucky?" Shuri asked, her hand on his cheek. "You all right?"

"Yeah," he said. He looked over at Loki, who was quite paler than usual. "Just hungry."

* * *

Bucky's hospital stay lasted another two weeks, but he imagined it was better for everyone now that he was actually awake for it. He could say how he was feeling, he could interact with his visitors, and when they were alone, Loki even helped him with his horniess issue with a late night hand job. When they were finished, Bucky reached for Loki for some sort of cuddle, but Loki disappeared, muttering about washing his hands and didn't come back for half an hour. The moment was well past when he returned.

While Shuri's focus had been on his health, she didn't have time to even start work on a new arm for him. 

"Now that you're going home, I'll have a chance to get to get on it. It'll be even better than your old, one, I promise."

"I've been managing fine," he replied. "Take your time."

"With the help of your husband," Shuri said with a little smirk.

Loki had disappeared for the minute, and while Bucky could sense he was still relatively nearby, he wasn't in hearing distance. Though he did have something of a sixth sense for when people were talking about him.

"I guess," Bucky said, shrugging his right shoulder. "I don't know what's going on with him. I was out for a long time. I don't know if he... got bored. Maybe found a boyfriend or something." He tried to sound like the thought didn't bother him, but he wasn't that good of an actor.

Shuri tilted her head to the side and considered him for a moment. "Did he tell you what he did while you were asleep?"

"No."

"Bucky, he didn't leave your side. He had to be brought meals once I realized he wasn't eating. When I suggested once that he go home to get rest, he told me that he would rest when he knew you would wake. He read to you, and he bathed you. If it wasn't directly medical, he did it. He's a bit of a drama queen, but a dedicated one. I assure you, he did not find a boyfriend."

Bucky blinked. "He _bathed_ me?"

"I asked him about that once, and he said 'there's honor in caring for the infirm.'" She tried for an impression of Loki, but it sounded ridiculous. "But I don't think he really cares about honor."

"No, he really doesn't."

* * *

"You should rest," Loki said as they entered the house. It was stuffy from being closed up for going on four months, but there was a comfort in everything being exactly as they had left it. It was so strikingly obvious that Loki hadn't returned, even for a night.

"Maybe we should change the sheets first," Bucky said.

Loki sighed, his gaze lingering on the spot where Bucky's arm once was. "Sit. I'll--"

"I can help. I did all this without an arm long before you came along." Bucky didn't mention that the cavity still ached, and he _was_ tired. Loki was acting like he was helpless, and was incredibly long suffering about it.

"Do you think your arm bothers me?" Loki asked. He stepped closer to Bucky, but not quite into his personal space. "You're an idiot, Barnes. You know that, right? Your ridiculous sense of heroism will destroy you. You can't reverse the harm you caused and nothing you do will restore the balance, and killing yourself for it will change nothing."

Bucky couldn't bring himself to move, except for his hand shaking slightly. It was clear this had been building up for Loki for months now, and his words stung. Bucky hadn't been trying to kill himself or even to seek absolution, and how the hell could Loki even suggest it? He took a breath and said, "That's not why I did it. It was the right thing to do."

"Dying isn't a solution."

"It is if it saves other people's lives."

"What about my life?" Loki asked. He moved closer to Bucky, within in arm's reach now. "Did they tell you that you were briefly dead?"

Bucky nodded. Shuri had mentioned it, asking if he remembered anything, but he had no awareness of his death, that had lasted less than sixty seconds, nor his subsequent resurrection. 

"I felt it when you died. The part of your soul that resides in mine faded away." Loki's tone was eerily calm and flat. "You flickered out of existence and it was if I had died with you."

"I had no idea," Bucky said. The anger had receded completely, leaving him with cold understanding.

Like his tone, Loki's expression remained coolly passive. "Of course you didn't. No one ever stopped to ask what this was doing to me. What it was like to watch you suffer, and to be helpless to change it. I thought about leaving a thousand times. It would have been simple to walk out of there and never return, to rid myself of these emotions."

Bucky knew he had to tread carefully. "Why didn't you? No one would have been able to stop you."

Loki pulled a face, as though he had tasted something foul. "I didn't want to leave. Every time I considered it, I thought of you waking up alone, and for as much as I desired to make you feel the same way I had felt, I also didn't want you to know that feeling. What I wanted escape was feeling this way, and matter how far I went, I would never stop that. I couldn't leave you behind, and it always been so easy for me to leave everyone else behind."

"Loki," Bucky breathed and moved closer to him, close enough to touch but Loki shook his head.

"I considered Odin a weak old fool, but... how he continued to go on after my mother was killed, by Dark Elves, no less, I'll never know. To think I nearly lost you the same way, it plagued me. We've been bound such a short time, and I couldn't bear only losing you for a minute. They were together for nearly two thousand years. I don't understand how he wasn't ripped apart."

This time, Bucky didn't give Loki a chance to stop him. He pushed his hand into Loki's hair, letting his fingers pull through the silky strands. Without his other arm, he had no way to actually keep ahold of Loki, so it would be nothing if Loki wanted to pull away from him, but he smiled as Loki leaned into his touch, and moments later, their bodies were pressed together, with Loki's face buried in the crook of his neck. "I'll try not to be so heroic next time."

Loki snorted, a warm puff of air against Bucky's neck. "Doubtful."

Bucky nuzzled his cheek against the side of Loki's head. He understood the overwhelming nature of their bond. The thrum of Loki's soul in him was constant and steady, and maybe he hadn't considered what it would be like if it were suddenly gone. But right now, he was holding Loki, and they were both all right. "You'll have to keep a closer eye on me."

"Too right," Loki replied, and he started to pull away, but Bucky caught his hand. He started, eyes wide and defensive. Perhaps it had been too many emotions for one minute.

"I'm alive," Bucky said anyway, bringing Loki's hand to his chest, pressing the palm over his heart so he could feel the pulse beneath. "We're both alive."

Loki stared at him for a few moments, perhaps reconsidering his stance on bolting, then said, "I still haven't forgiven you."

"I don't expect you to ever forgive me," Bucky replied, because of course Loki was the sort of person who saw saving the lives of several people, including himself, as something requiring forgiveness. Maybe understanding that was what would make this work in the long run.

"Good." Loki surged forward and shoved his mouth to Bucky's. 

So much for resting, Bucky thought as he slid his arm around Loki's waist to pull him close again. Tangled up in each other, they moved awkwardly toward the bed and Loki pressed him down onto the musty sheets.

"I did miss this," Loki said as he began pulling off his clothes.

Bucky laughed, and tried to pull off his t-shirt, but he wasn't managing a much simpler piece of clothing the amount of time Loki had already stripped almost completely out of a _suit_. He'd really taken having two arms for granted. "Help me?"

"That's all I've done for the last four months," Loki replied, but he easily removed the shirt and tossed it aside. He smoothed his hands over Bucky's chest, his gaze darkening with lust. With a surprising gentleness, his fingertips checked the wrapping over Bucky's left shoulder, making sure it was firmly in place before he pushed Bucky down onto his back. He started in on Bucky's pants, and with Loki's help, Bucky wriggled out of them.

Both of them finally naked, they moved closer to the center of the bed, and Loki climbed atop Bucky, careful not to press too much weight on him.

"I want to fuck you," Loki said, leaning over him.

Bucky grinned, amused by the announcement. "That's a good idea."

Loki brushed his lips against Bucky's cheek before he shifted to start digging through the nightstand. He sat back between Bucky's legs, lube in hand, and smiled as he took in Bucky's naked body. He drizzled lube over his fingers and stroked the tips of his fingers down the length of Bucky's cock.

"Really?" Bucky asked, shuddering. "Four months and you're teasing me?"

"No," Loki replied softly, dragging his fingers down to Bucky's balls. "I just want to touch you."

Bucky couldn't argue with that, but he tipped his hips forward to get more contact with Loki's hand. "I thought you might have gotten your fill. I heard something about you bathing me while I was out."

Loki actually _blushed_. "That was different," he mumbled, and dipped his fingers down into Bucky's ass, probably as a distraction the subject of his caretaking.

It worked. Bucky moaned, feeling tight around Loki's fingers. He gripped the sheets, pulling them into a ball in his fist. He felt a little like he could fall out of the bed, even knowing he was just unbalanced. "Fuck me. I need you inside me. Now."

"I am inside you," Loki said with a sarcastic little smirk. He kissed the inside of Bucky's knee as he twisted his fingers slightly. "Do you want my cock?"

"Fuck you," Bucky gasped, but there was absolutely no malice in his voice.

Loki laughed, but he removed his fingers and gave himself a couple of strokes before he adjusted Bucky's hips and pushed into him with tremendous care.

"Ohhh." Bucky wrapped a leg around Loki's waist, pulling him closer, beckoning him to push in further, and, _fuck_ , faster. There was something about the way he stretched around Loki's cock that highlighted how long he had been out of the world. He tried not to think about it. "I missed you,"

"You don't remember," Loki said irritably. He was possibly the only person in the world who could sound so annoyed during sex, but gasp that followed gave him away as enjoying himself. He was finally starting to slowly build up a rhythm, working Bucky open a little bit more before pulling out and thrusting back into him. 

"I remember missing you," Bucky replied, completely aware it didn't make any sense. He released the sheets and grasped Loki's hand, locking their fingers together. 

Loki mercifully didn't comment on Bucky's nonsense. He leaned forward, pressing some of his weight on Bucky's palm and began fucking him in earnest, burying his face in Bucky's chest, mouth warm against the skin. Bucky could feel Loki's ragged breathing against his stomach, heavy and comforting.

Perhaps it was the desperation, but Bucky could feel the pull in his chest the way he had the night of the ritual. It was hot, tying him tighter to Loki with every thrust. He tightened his leg around Loki's waist and gasped, "Can you feel it?"

Loki mumbled something that was maybe a response, but it was lost to his moans as he came. He released Bucky's hand and slumped against his body, softening inside of him.

"You okay?" Bucky asked. He was aching, his cock trapped between Loki's body, but he couldn't help but smile. With his hand free, he rested it at the back of Loki's head.

"Mmhm." After a second, Loki shifted and pulled out of him. He was still slumped against Bucky's chest and let out a little moan.

Bucky whimpered. "Are you done? You can't be done."

"I'm hardly finished," Loki replied, his words slurring together slightly. He began kissing his way down Bucky's body, not stopping until his mouth wrapped around Bucky's cock.

Bucky shuddered. He was overwhelmed with the sudden urge to cry as Loki tongued his way around the crown of Bucky's dick. There may have been more truth to this statement about missing Loki than he realized. He pushed his hand through Loki's hair, thrusting up into his mouth, and came almost immediately.

Loki made a surprised sound, but swallowed, and wiping his mouth, he climbed up the head of the bed to give Bucky a kiss.

"That was fast, I'm sorry," Bucky mumbled against Loki's mouth.

"It was adequate," Loki replied and kissed him again.

Bucky laughed. "You're such an asshole."

Even though Loki was hard again, he didn't move for more sex, and instead they shifted around in the bed until they found a comfortable position to cuddle together. Bucky left shoulder ached far too much for him to lay on that side, so he rested his head on Loki's chest and wished he had a hand to offer a handjob.

Loki pressed a kiss to the top of Bucky's head. "I enjoy this."

"Yeah?"

"Yes." There was a long silence, except for the soft sound of Loki's heartbeat in Bucky's ear. "Barnes, I... I will never promise you that I will stay here forever. That my desires for something greater will not win out, and I won't go seeking other lands to conquer."

Bucky tipped his chin up to look at Loki, but Loki was staring straight ahead. "All right."

"But I promise if I do, I will take you with me. Even if I have to steal you away. Even if you hate me for it." Loki looked down. "I don't make promises, but I'm making that one to you."

Blinking up at him, Bucky said, "I think that was supposed to be sweet, but you did just say you were willing to kidnap me."

"I am willing. I would prefer it if you wanted to leave with me of your own accord, but I will not leave you behind."

"Okay." Bucky rested his head on Loki's chest again and closed his eyes. "As long as we're on the same page."


End file.
